WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.060 Father, sometimes your word is very scary to us. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.620 And when your word is very scary to us, for those who are your children and your friends, 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:13.400 the disciples of Jesus, we don't really know what to do with it. 00:00:14.099 --> 00:00:19.120 And Father, for those outside the faith, they are just very, very puzzled as to why 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.580 such things would even be in your word. 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:29.699 We ask, Lord, that when our hearts are afraid, that you would draw us to yourself. 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:31.940 That you would draw us closer to you. 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:35.159 And Father, we don't ask that you turn off our mind. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.920 We thank you that you never turn off people's minds. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:43.980 But we ask, Father, that you help us to understand who we are, why we think what we think, 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:48.859 why our heart longs for what it longs for and turns from what it turns from. 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:53.640 That you might grant us a deeper and truer knowledge of ourself and a deeper and truer 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:56.700 knowledge of you and of your world and all these things. 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:00.280 And so, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would do that wonderful work in our lives 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:02.420 this morning as we look at Lamentations 2. 00:01:02.980 --> 00:01:06.579 And all these things we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:07.379 Amen. 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:07.519 Amen. 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:15.560 There's a way that pastors often refer. 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:20.699 I think small group leaders and maybe Sunday school teachers and others will use language 00:01:20.699 --> 00:01:21.340 like this. 00:01:21.899 --> 00:01:23.399 I'm going to tackle this book. 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:25.719 I'm going to tackle the book of Exodus. 00:01:25.919 --> 00:01:27.219 I'm going to tackle Philippians. 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:28.560 I'm going to tackle this. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.060 And it's an innocent type of expression. 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:32.359 There's nothing bad about it. 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:35.980 One of the things I have to confess is, I mean, I use that as well. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.439 I've had a really hard time with Lamentations. 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:41.439 I continue to have a hard time with it. 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:46.959 In fact, one of the things I realized is I jokingly say that I was going to tackle the 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.340 book of Lamentations, but Lamentations has tackled me. 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.659 And that's not a bad thing when God's Word tackles a person. 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:56.019 But it's very upsetting. 00:01:56.539 --> 00:02:00.539 And not upsetting, it can be disorienting to be tackled by God's Word. 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:07.800 And I think one of the reasons that the book of Lamentations tackles us, it's a book which 00:02:07.800 --> 00:02:09.159 isn't preached on very often. 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:13.300 And we at Church of the Messiah, one of the things we do is we read through books of the 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:17.159 Bible together and we study a book of a Bible together. 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:18.000 That's what we're doing here. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.439 We're going to do all five chapters of the book of Lamentations. 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:26.580 And one of the reasons that I think Canadians have a great problem with the book of Lamentations 00:02:26.580 --> 00:02:32.800 is, well, because for many people in our culture, the question would be, how can you believe 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.560 in a God who causes suffering? 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:41.280 Not just, how can there be a God who, how can God exist if there's evil in the world? 00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:43.620 This is a different question from that. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.180 It's a related but different and actually even harder question than that. 00:02:47.180 --> 00:02:52.240 And that is, how can you believe in a God who causes suffering? 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:57.680 That he actually causes suffering in life, in history. 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:06.480 And people would say, George, how can you believe in a God who causes suffering and who 00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:08.980 actually even wants you to know that he does it? 00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:13.379 Because you see, that's the hard part about the book of Lamentations. 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:20.039 And those of, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus and a person who has trusted Jesus as 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:21.199 their Savior and their Lord. 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:28.479 And so if I trust Jesus as my Savior and Lord, I have to trust his understanding of what the 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:29.120 Bible is. 00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:33.819 And Jesus' understanding of the Bible is that it's God's word written, that God was the 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:34.680 ultimate author. 00:03:35.259 --> 00:03:41.539 He superintended the different human authors using their own creativity, their own historical 00:03:41.539 --> 00:03:44.879 circumstances, their own manners of speech. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:49.419 But he superintended all of that so that the words that he wanted to have written were 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:49.680 written. 00:03:50.459 --> 00:03:55.879 And he superintended the process whereby his people recognized that these were not just 00:03:55.879 --> 00:04:00.139 one other word amongst many, but that they were in fact words that ultimately came from 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:00.359 him. 00:04:01.019 --> 00:04:07.099 And Christians believe that God ultimately superintended the process by which his words are preserved 00:04:07.099 --> 00:04:07.799 for us. 00:04:07.859 --> 00:04:10.579 Not only recognized, but preserved so that we can read them today. 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:14.620 So when we read the Bible, we're actually hearing God speak to us ultimately. 00:04:15.260 --> 00:04:17.259 And so this makes the question even harder. 00:04:18.580 --> 00:04:22.860 People who, there are many people in the visible church who would call themselves Christians, 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:25.100 but don't have Jesus' view of the Bible. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:27.259 And they would just dismiss texts like this. 00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:30.660 But to dismiss a text like this means, well, I don't know, how do you ever grow? 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:35.439 Like in what way can you actually say that you're a follower of Jesus if you think that 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.819 he's wrong about how to understand the Bible? 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:42.120 So here we have this, in a sense, great puzzle. 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:48.659 As we're going to see, as we saw last Sunday, and we're going to see today, the Bible says 00:04:48.659 --> 00:04:52.939 that God, the triune God, causes suffering. 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:59.680 And that is a very, very troubling and scary idea to Christians. 00:05:00.459 --> 00:05:08.360 And it is something which non-Christians find abhorrent and would say to somebody like me, 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.220 George, how can you believe in the triune God if he causes suffering? 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:19.240 So we're going to walk towards this again, and we're going to look at Lamentations chapter 2. 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:22.840 And here's how it begins. 00:05:23.940 --> 00:05:28.320 I'm going to make a few little, occasionally today, I'll do so more next week, 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.280 I'm going to make a few grammar geek, for those of us who are grammar geeks, 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:36.240 I'm going to make a few grammar geek concept ideas. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:41.120 Because the chapter 1 and chapter 2, they're basically what Lamentations is, 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:44.500 is five different poems, all linked. 00:05:45.420 --> 00:05:48.240 And three, is it three or four? 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:53.960 Three of the poems, chapter 1, chapter 2, or poem 1, poem 2, and poem 4, 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.220 all begin with the same word, how. 00:05:57.139 --> 00:05:59.180 In other words, how on earth can this happen? 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:06.699 It's a question in the biblical writers, often connected to funerals, often connected to tragedies. 00:06:07.139 --> 00:06:08.100 How can this be? 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:09.420 How can this happen? 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:11.720 And that's how chapter 2 begins. 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:18.500 How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud. 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:22.379 Just aside, if you're not familiar with things, 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:30.259 daughter of Zion here is going to be one of the ways that the writer is referring to the Jewish people, 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:31.980 God's chosen people. 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:34.600 So sometimes he's referring to all of the Jewish people, 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:36.719 sometimes he's referring just to the city of Jerusalem, 00:06:36.779 --> 00:06:39.339 but he's always really referring to the Jewish people. 00:06:39.779 --> 00:06:44.560 When you see Jerusalem, Zion, Judah, Israel, 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:49.019 it's all just different poetic devices to refer to the same group. 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:50.899 So I'll read that again. 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:55.399 How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud. 00:06:56.500 --> 00:07:02.139 He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel. 00:07:02.679 --> 00:07:06.519 He has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:12.459 The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob. 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:17.019 That's another way of referring to Israel, the Jewish people. 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:22.759 In his wrath, he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:28.240 He has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:33.659 He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel. 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:39.339 He has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy. 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:44.759 He has burned like a flaming fire and Jacob consuming all around. 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.719 We're just going to pause there. 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:50.959 And by the way, when I'm saying he and emphasizing it in the original language, 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:52.420 it's very clear. 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:56.839 There's, I think it's something like 28 different times in the first few verses 00:07:56.839 --> 00:07:59.240 where it's made very clear that God is the author. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:03.819 The triune God is the author of these things which have happened. 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:08.740 And obviously, this is now very clearly stating the problem. 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:14.639 You can see why I said the reason that the book of Lamentations tackles Christians 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:22.319 is that it is clearly presenting this idea that the triune God has caused this suffering. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:28.100 And chapter 2, in fact, the first 10 stanzas or 10 verses make this, 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:32.819 actually the whole poem will make this clear time and time and time again. 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:36.100 And there's one of these phrases here, and I'm going to mention it 00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:39.280 because it's a very important little thing. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.040 It's one of the things which would obviously bother many people. 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:47.860 If you look again at verse 2, how the Lord has swallowed up without mercy. 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:53.020 And we say to ourselves, George, gosh, I mean, shouldn't God be a God of mercy? 00:08:53.180 --> 00:08:54.580 Shouldn't he be a God of love? 00:08:55.180 --> 00:09:01.400 Like, how on earth can you worship a God that doesn't show mercy? 00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:05.879 Now, that's a very, very, very good question. 00:09:07.160 --> 00:09:10.520 But it also actually is a question that ends up revealing our heart. 00:09:11.060 --> 00:09:14.300 In fact, one of the things which is very interesting about the book of Lamentations, 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:19.780 if you get over the shock and the horror, I mean, it just really goes against, 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:24.579 you know, I like our Christian radio station. 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:26.659 I'm a fan of it. 00:09:27.699 --> 00:09:29.919 And, you know, it's a safe and fun for the whole family. 00:09:30.439 --> 00:09:33.179 But I don't know if they'd want to have the book of Lamentations read. 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:35.240 Later on, it's going to talk about cannibalism. 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:40.519 It probably wouldn't pass the good for the whole family little rubric. 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:46.259 And it's just, it isn't the type of text which we in Canadians talk about very much. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:48.340 But just think about it for a second. 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:53.199 Mercy to be mercy has to be undeserved. 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.360 Now, that might be a bit of a shock, but you just think about it for a second. 00:09:57.699 --> 00:10:01.100 If mercy is actually mercy, it has to be undeserved. 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:07.360 In fact, if mercy is required, there's another name for it. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:09.159 Privilege. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.519 So for people to say that God is required to show mercy, 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:20.620 you are actually making the claim that God is required to privilege. 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:27.560 But isn't that one of the great horrors of our current age, this idea of privilege? 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:35.699 Isn't the idea of privilege of the 1% or privilege of the white race or privilege of men or privilege of some groups, 00:10:35.739 --> 00:10:42.839 one of the great things is considered to be a huge horror, a profound injustice that fills us with wrath? 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.739 But required mercy is another way of saying privilege. 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:54.019 All of a sudden, this text has taken an odd turn. 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:59.100 You see, we thought we're reading a text and we're looking at God and he's not meeting up to our standards. 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:03.579 And all of a sudden, if we actually pause and think about how we're reacting to the text, 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:05.840 we realize that it's revealing something about us. 00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:12.079 We're actually asking, we are upset with God because he does not show privilege. 00:11:15.579 --> 00:11:17.220 Maybe the problem is us. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:19.439 Maybe the problem is you and me. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:28.100 Maybe the problem is that we just have a type of a desire to be God 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:32.380 that means that he needs to, he's required. 00:11:33.140 --> 00:11:35.020 He has to show mercy to me. 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:35.940 Oh, one moment. 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.440 That means he has to show privilege to me. 00:11:39.420 --> 00:11:41.060 And that's something I hate in others. 00:11:41.059 --> 00:11:49.039 I put that pebble in your shoe because if we don't have that pebble in our shoe right off the bat, 00:11:49.099 --> 00:11:52.919 it means that all the way through this book, this chapter, 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:58.219 we're going to react to the text without self-reflection. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.559 In a narrow-minded, non-self-reflective way. 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:12.439 See, part of the thing is that really what ends up happening is it's not so much that the book of Lamentation shows us a mirror, 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:21.139 but it's as if it shows us like a type of x-ray mirror that we see ourselves where we can't flatter ourselves. 00:12:21.719 --> 00:12:28.919 Either that or we stop our ears and refuse to allow God to speak to us because we just want to yell at him. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:36.959 But God wants to speak to you and he wants to speak to me and he wants you and me to understand that we have a problem. 00:12:37.959 --> 00:12:42.620 And part of our problem is that at a very deep level, we desire privilege. 00:12:45.199 --> 00:12:47.879 And we can't come to God on the basis of privilege. 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:50.779 We can only come to God on the basis of mercy. 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:59.620 So, he's not showing favoritism. 00:13:01.319 --> 00:13:10.720 In fact, here's another type of thing which I think we need to sort of come to understand when we react to this text. 00:13:11.699 --> 00:13:14.959 And in some ways, I'm giving you one of the big ideas of the text right off the bat. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:22.379 And one of the big ideas of the text right off the bat is that we desire to fill our heads with knowledge. 00:13:22.680 --> 00:13:31.220 But God knows, because he desires to have a love relationship with us, that what our heads, I mean, obviously our heads need knowledge. 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.360 The Bible isn't anti-intellectual. 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:36.759 But what God needs from us is to bow our heads. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:42.700 We need bowed heads, not filled heads. 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:47.220 And this text is going to bow our heads. 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:55.520 And if it doesn't bow our heads, it means that we are incomprehensible to ourselves and God is incomprehensible to us. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:05.960 And he bows our heads not to belittle us, but that we might receive mercy and enter into a relationship of love with him. 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:09.320 Continue in verse 4. 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:37.740 And just sort of pause here. 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:38.659 Just two things. 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:41.840 First of all, you notice it says like an enemy, not that the Lord is their enemy. 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:44.100 In fact, this is all actually part of it. 00:14:44.180 --> 00:14:46.399 It's a very, very odd and little subtle thing. 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.820 There's all these subtle things in the text that you only discover if you study it. 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:55.700 You might need the help of a commentary or some other language help to actually enter into it. 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:01.919 But even in the very opening sentences where it says he's cast God, he's cast Israel down from heaven, 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:06.539 there's actually hope there because he's cast them from heaven to earth, not from heaven to Sheol. 00:15:07.479 --> 00:15:12.659 In other words, there is still actually hope even in the midst of all of this. 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:15.240 And the other thing is, and it's not as obvious in the English, 00:15:15.939 --> 00:15:18.860 this book is not a book of accusations. 00:15:19.699 --> 00:15:21.819 It's more obvious in the original language. 00:15:21.979 --> 00:15:23.620 It's not a book of accusations. 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:26.759 It's not a chapter, I should say, or a poem of accusations. 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:36.159 It's almost as if it's a theology of the history of God's dealings just recently with Israel. 00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:40.120 Because this book is written, these poems are written amongst the ruins. 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:41.879 Israel has been destroyed. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.500 Most of its people carried away into exile. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.860 Its leaders have been taken away or killed. 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:55.700 And whether it's Jeremiah or some other poet, he is praying this poem, writing this poem, 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:01.259 and praying or singing even maybe this poem amidst the ruins of Jerusalem. 00:16:01.779 --> 00:16:08.680 And we are to understand that that's true for all five of the poems or songs or prayers 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:10.800 that make up the book of Lamentations. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:15.539 They all are prayed, said, sung among the ruins. 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:19.379 And this is not a poem of accusation. 00:16:20.219 --> 00:16:26.639 It's a poem of honesty about what is around them and why that has come about. 00:16:28.099 --> 00:16:30.819 And one of the things, it's not as obvious. 00:16:30.959 --> 00:16:35.659 If you go back and you read it very, very carefully, you'll see constantly this day language, 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:39.199 the day of God's anger, the day of the Lord, the day of judgment. 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:42.579 There's this idea of the day, which is connected to all of those things, 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:44.059 of judgment or the day of the Lord. 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:51.219 And part of the point of all of these analogies, just as if you go back with a commentary or 00:16:51.219 --> 00:16:56.559 something, you'll see that it's filled with allusions to Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to the book 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:01.519 of Jeremiah, to the first five books of the Old Testament, what our Jewish friends call 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.379 the Torah, the books of Moses. 00:17:03.739 --> 00:17:06.619 And you'll see that there's constant references to this. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.000 And you see, part of the point of these references is that God has warned them. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.500 God has warned them this would happen. 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:20.319 It's as if you have a little child and they're just beginning to enter into moral knowledge. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.480 And you know they're entering into moral knowledge. 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:27.839 There comes a point in time for an attentive parent where they realize that their young 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.000 little infant has entered into a realm of moral knowledge. 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:36.000 You know, when they're just young, they just grab, they just poop, they just cry, they just 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.099 do whatever they're going to do. 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:42.019 But at some point in time, usually when they can walk and you can see that they're going 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:45.519 to go to get something maybe off of a table or off the bookshelf that they're not supposed 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:45.880 to have. 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:47.880 And you say to them, don't touch that. 00:17:47.980 --> 00:17:48.740 That's bad. 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:51.599 And the child stops, looks at you. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:56.099 And you say to them again, don't touch that. 00:17:56.199 --> 00:17:57.019 Don't grab that. 00:17:57.059 --> 00:17:57.839 It's wrong. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.139 And they look at you and you know that they know. 00:18:03.419 --> 00:18:05.919 And then you say to them, if you do that, that's wrong. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:06.980 You're going to be punished. 00:18:08.139 --> 00:18:09.579 And they do it. 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:12.959 And if you're a parent, you need to punish them after you've said that. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:19.279 You see, they've tried, I don't know, maybe give them a little light slap on the hand or 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:20.200 something like that. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.400 And they start to cry, but you warned them. 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:26.779 And part of the purpose of the Day of the Lord language throughout all of the book of 00:18:26.779 --> 00:18:33.240 Lamentations is if you go back to the Torah, the way that God introduces the covenant with 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.000 the consequences of not keeping it. 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:40.440 If you go back and you look, in fact, actually, there's a really interesting linguistic connection 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:43.039 to a very, very powerful scene in the book of Jeremiah. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:47.000 Jeremiah has written down all of the things that are going to happen. 00:18:47.080 --> 00:18:49.299 The people of Israel are doing horrific things. 00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:54.200 And Jeremiah has said that they're going to come under God's judgment for doing these horrific 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:54.620 things. 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:55.779 And he writes them all down. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.840 And he has this fellow Baruch go and read it in the temple. 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.840 And people are all completely and utterly shocked by it. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.200 So they bring it to the king. 00:19:04.860 --> 00:19:06.120 I think it's King Jehoiakim. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.680 And there's this very, very powerful scene. 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:11.340 And it would make a beautiful movie scene. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:17.580 He's there with his nobles and his warlords, all dressed in his splendor and his armor and 00:19:17.580 --> 00:19:18.160 his might. 00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:21.580 And they're gathered around the fire because it's a bit cool. 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:24.700 And as Baruch, and he's reading it from a scroll, right? 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.140 It's not pages of a book, but from a scroll. 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:35.259 And as part of it is read, and the other part is, in a sense, hanging down, the king goes 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:38.200 and cuts it with his knife and drops it into the fire. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.200 And Baruch continues to read. 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:46.500 And then the king, I think it's in Jeremiah 36, cuts the part off with his knife, drops 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:47.319 it into the fire. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:52.539 And by the end of this list of warnings from the prophet of Jeremiah to the king and to 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:56.619 the people about what's going to happen if they continue to do what they're doing, if 00:19:56.619 --> 00:20:00.539 they continue to oppress the poor, if they continue to give their daughters and their 00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:07.059 sons into sex slavery, if they continue to kill their children that they don't want by 00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:13.099 offering them to terrible gods, if they continue to do these terrible things that they're doing, 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:15.339 God is going to punish them. 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:19.599 And by the end of the whole thing being read, it's all in the fire. 00:20:19.919 --> 00:20:21.740 And the king says, what are we going to do next? 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:33.220 And it's in that context that the poet is singing or praying his poem amidst the ruins of Jerusalem. 00:20:36.259 --> 00:20:37.779 Verse six. 00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:44.240 He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place. 00:20:44.339 --> 00:20:46.940 The Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath. 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.700 And in his fierce indignation, a spurned king and priest. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:56.539 The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:59.700 He has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.240 They raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival. 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:07.960 The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion. 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:10.120 He stretched out the measuring line. 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:12.579 He did not restrain his hand from destroying. 00:21:13.079 --> 00:21:15.120 He caused rampart and wall to lament. 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:16.599 They languished together. 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:19.339 Notice that this is all part of God's purpose. 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:22.140 I mean, here's another one of these questions for us as Christians. 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:24.900 And we're going to look at it more over the next couple of weeks. 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:30.740 If we Christians encourage each other to believe God's promises and live by them, 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:34.880 why don't we encourage each other to believe his warnings and live by them? 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:40.620 Why do we only want his promises to be dependable, but not his warnings? 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:45.359 Like, why is that? 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:49.000 That that is part of the human heart? 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:54.180 You see, these things about the human heart, that we desire privilege, 00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:56.799 that we desire promises but not warnings, 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.519 is all part of the reason that we start to understand that we need a Savior, 00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:03.099 that we cannot save ourselves, 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:06.799 that unless God in his mercy does something that we cannot do in and of ourselves 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:10.819 in a way which is beautiful and just and good and merciful, 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:14.319 and in keeping with the fact that there are other people on the planet 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.919 and the planet itself, 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.500 that we need God to do what we cannot do for ourselves. 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:23.519 I need God to do what I cannot do for myself. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.819 You need God to do what you cannot do for yourself. 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:29.240 Verse 9. 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:31.720 Her gates have sunk into the ground. 00:22:31.819 --> 00:22:33.579 He has ruined and broken her bars. 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:37.379 Her kings and princes are among the nations. 00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:40.740 The law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord. 00:22:41.339 --> 00:22:45.099 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. 00:22:45.259 --> 00:22:47.960 They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:51.220 The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. 00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:59.779 Now, there's a structure to the poem. 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:04.660 And if you look at it very carefully, it's obvious in English as well. 00:23:05.259 --> 00:23:07.079 And the structure to the poem is this, 00:23:07.120 --> 00:23:10.660 that the first ten verses are in a sense this, 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:14.960 just not accusation, this statement of what God has done, 00:23:15.600 --> 00:23:17.380 that in fact God had warned, 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:20.280 and that people had not believed his warnings, 00:23:20.280 --> 00:23:24.840 and that God, in fact, has in history actually carried out what he said he would do 00:23:24.840 --> 00:23:26.280 if they didn't listen to his warnings. 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:29.120 And that's the first ten verses. 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:35.680 Verses 11 and 12, you'll notice that there's a very, very clear change in verses 11 and 12. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:43.700 And now it's the poet himself just sharing his heart with how this all just breaks his heart. 00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:48.640 And then verses 13 to 19 are going to be, in a sense, 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:54.440 the poet speaking to his Jewish friends, the people of God, 00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:00.440 reminding them of what's happened and calling them and urging them to turn to the Lord. 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:06.519 And then verses 20 to 22 is, in a sense, the people of Israel, 00:24:06.600 --> 00:24:09.940 the poet on behalf of the people of Israel, the Jewish people, 00:24:10.120 --> 00:24:12.100 calling out to the Lord in prayer. 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:13.640 That's how it's structured. 00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:16.000 So there's going to be this shift now. 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:18.380 But one of the things which is very interesting, 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.120 and there's actually, if you go back and look at it, 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:22.920 there's actually a very interesting pattern 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:26.720 that verse 22 and verse 1 refer to the same types of things. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:32.059 Verse 21 and 2, 20 and 3, you know, all the way through it. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:39.000 That, in a sense, all of the things which happen when the poet is just pouring out his heart, 00:24:39.120 --> 00:24:42.620 when he's looking to the people who are left amidst the ruins 00:24:42.620 --> 00:24:46.640 and hoping that maybe by his written words it will go to the exiles, 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:48.940 that they will call out to the Lord for mercy. 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:53.759 And when the people of Israel, in a sense, are calling out in mercy to the Lord as well, 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:58.579 all of it shows that they have accepted the analysis of their situation, 00:24:58.779 --> 00:25:02.440 that it's not accusation but acceptance. 00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:08.420 And here's how it goes with verses 11 and 12. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.400 And actually, by the way, I'm going to talk about this more next week, 00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:14.460 but I think I'm going to say it right now, 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:18.339 a little bit of another pebble in our shoe, 00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:22.599 another little bit of a self-reflection that we're not often conscious of. 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.719 In our culture, and it affects how Christians think as well, 00:25:26.959 --> 00:25:30.039 there tends to be two different types, 00:25:30.139 --> 00:25:32.959 especially after you've now read these ten verses. 00:25:33.639 --> 00:25:36.599 One of the reasons that many people say they can't believe God, 00:25:37.699 --> 00:25:40.139 in the triune God, the Father of Jesus, 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:43.899 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the triune God, 00:25:44.199 --> 00:25:47.079 is that God allows evil to happen. 00:25:47.079 --> 00:25:52.000 And so the saying is, how on earth can you believe in the triune God 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:54.000 if he allows evil to happen? 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:57.339 So now I can say to them, well, I have really good news for you. 00:25:57.439 --> 00:25:58.819 You can read the book of Lamentations, 00:25:58.819 --> 00:26:01.379 and you can see that God is going to judge all evil. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.319 But we read the book of Lamentations and say, 00:26:04.639 --> 00:26:07.039 George, how can you believe in a God that judges evil? 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:10.659 And we never stop to think to ourselves that we've now given mutually, 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:14.700 we've given contradictory complaints and demands of God. 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:16.040 It's as if we've asked him, 00:26:16.340 --> 00:26:18.779 we'll only believe in if you can make square circles. 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:22.540 Well, one moment, if it's a square, it can't be a circle. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.279 If it's a circle, it can't be a square. 00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:26.220 That doesn't make any sense. 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:28.340 And so we say to God, we say, 00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:31.220 I can't believe in the triune God because he allows evil. 00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:34.840 And then we say, I can't believe in the triune God because he judges evil. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.180 Well, who has the problem? 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:42.240 Who's being the tough thinker? 00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:45.380 Who's being self-reflective? 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:49.580 We go back and forward between these two things 00:26:49.580 --> 00:26:52.400 without even realizing that we go back and forward between the two of them. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:55.820 See, once again, it reveals that in our hearts, 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:57.840 we want to be the judge. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:01.940 In your heart and mine, you want to be the judge. 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:03.600 You want privilege. 00:27:04.259 --> 00:27:05.920 You want required mercy. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:08.259 You want God to be tame. 00:27:09.080 --> 00:27:11.840 You want him to fit into your box and categories. 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:16.779 In fact, I'm going to talk about this more a little bit in the next coming weeks. 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:20.180 One of the things which is, in a sense, almost a dream of our culture 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:26.120 is that we sort of inherently think that the real God should be beyond good and evil. 00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:31.139 But we don't really want a God who is beyond good and evil. 00:27:31.339 --> 00:27:34.699 To be beyond good and evil, it sounds good as a slogan, 00:27:34.939 --> 00:27:37.719 but it actually means that God gives evil a pass. 00:27:38.500 --> 00:27:41.419 It means that there is no good and there is no evil, 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:46.719 but really it makes no difference whether a mother cuddles her newborn baby 00:27:46.719 --> 00:27:48.879 or whether she strangles her newborn baby. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.299 Like, how can there be anything beyond good or evil? 00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:54.059 Isn't it better and wiser to understand? 00:27:54.399 --> 00:27:57.799 See, what we really, we think we want a God beyond good and evil, 00:27:57.899 --> 00:28:01.019 but we don't, that reveals something in us 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:04.779 which is just our fallen desire to be God-like. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:08.319 You see, what the Bible presents is something far wiser 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:11.519 and something which is actually the longing of your heart. 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:14.619 What we long for and what we desire 00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:18.460 is not a God that is beyond good and evil. 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:21.680 What we long for is a God where, 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.620 what we really long for is something more 00:28:25.620 --> 00:28:27.299 where there is a God that is both, 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:32.920 He is both loving and true. 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:35.539 He is both just and merciful. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.860 He is both good and beautiful. 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:40.500 And that the God who does exist, 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:44.819 that's both true and loving and good and beautiful 00:28:44.819 --> 00:28:46.579 and just and merciful, 00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:49.720 that as you press more and more and more into His goodness 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:51.159 and more and more into the love 00:28:51.159 --> 00:28:52.399 and more and more into the truth 00:28:52.399 --> 00:28:53.720 and more and more into the justice 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:55.179 and more and more into the mercy, 00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:58.359 that each of those things illuminate the other. 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:01.839 That the more you press into His goodness and His truth, 00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:03.919 the truth illuminates His goodness. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:06.279 The justice illuminates the truth. 00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:09.699 The mercy illuminates the justice. 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:12.360 The beauty illuminates. 00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:15.700 And that's the God that's depicted here in the Bible. 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:17.940 Not a God who is beyond good or evil, 00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:23.440 but a God where love and truth, goodness and beauty, justice and mercy 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.779 are all at one, illuminating each other. 00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:33.160 And we don't want to go into a world, really, beyond good or evil. 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:37.940 We want to go into a world where love and truth, goodness and beauty, 00:29:37.940 --> 00:29:42.080 justice and mercy, are illuminated and at peace, 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:46.779 and where we can be at peace with such a world. 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:53.320 And if there is this disease in our souls where we desire a God beyond good or mercy, 00:29:53.840 --> 00:29:57.320 beyond good and evil, and a God who gives us privilege, 00:29:57.460 --> 00:30:02.320 we realize there needs to be both some type of a judgment or a breaking of us, 00:30:02.320 --> 00:30:06.400 but also a breaking that saves us. 00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:11.680 Let's hear the poet's heart, verse 11. 00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:16.120 My eyes are spent with weeping. 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:22.240 I mean, isn't that... 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:25.920 The Bible says that we are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. 00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:28.400 This is really... 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:30.620 I keep saying I'm going to talk about this more in the following sermons. 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:31.820 I hope I remember to do it. 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:37.859 And one of the things which is, you know, there's a very easy claim right now for Christians, 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:39.539 some Christians, and it's not just... 00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:40.359 It's a human problem. 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:41.379 It's every group. 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:43.500 It's, you know, the critical theory people. 00:30:43.659 --> 00:30:44.639 It's the conservatives. 00:30:44.939 --> 00:30:46.359 It's the liberals. 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:47.579 It's the right and the left. 00:30:47.639 --> 00:30:49.019 And Christians are all part of it. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:53.000 Where we can look down our nose at the bad things going on in culture, 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:56.740 as if somehow we should be immune from them and we're separate from them. 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:02.140 And what we see here is that we should read the newspaper and have it break our heart, 00:31:02.740 --> 00:31:05.400 even for our enemies. 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:08.500 Listen to verse 11 and 12. 00:31:08.900 --> 00:31:10.519 My eyes are spent with weeping. 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:11.839 My stomach churns. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:13.720 My bile is poured out to the ground. 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:16.420 Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, 00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:19.299 because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city, 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:20.819 they cry to their mothers, 00:31:21.100 --> 00:31:25.319 Where is bread and wine as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:28.079 as their life is poured out on their mother's bosom? 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:36.620 The poet is filled with sorrow for what he sees around him. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:40.759 And now he speaks to those around him. 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:42.360 He speaks to you and me. 00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:45.919 Some of us entering into this time of worship, 00:31:46.039 --> 00:31:47.319 reading the book of Lamentations, 00:31:47.439 --> 00:31:48.779 are in our own ruins. 00:31:48.979 --> 00:31:50.339 Maybe it's the ruins of our health, 00:31:50.419 --> 00:31:51.199 of our finances, 00:31:51.399 --> 00:31:52.339 of our relationships, 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:54.539 of our job prospects. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:56.779 And now he speaks to us. 00:31:56.859 --> 00:31:59.899 Not that everything that happens like this... 00:31:59.899 --> 00:32:00.139 I mean, 00:32:00.979 --> 00:32:03.019 I hope I have time to talk about this another way. 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:05.579 You know, there's book of Job and book of Lamentations. 00:32:05.719 --> 00:32:06.979 You have to sort of read both of them 00:32:06.979 --> 00:32:08.659 and think of all of them in light of the cross 00:32:08.659 --> 00:32:11.859 to start to understand a little bit about what the Bible has to say about suffering. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:15.979 Job very clearly is about innocent suffering, 00:32:15.979 --> 00:32:17.539 and this is about guilty suffering. 00:32:17.919 --> 00:32:19.079 And you need to look at both. 00:32:20.159 --> 00:32:21.240 So most of these sermons, 00:32:21.319 --> 00:32:22.859 we're only going to be talking about this one thing. 00:32:23.059 --> 00:32:24.059 But there's this invitation... 00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:28.039 Listen to how he prays in verses 13 through 19. 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:29.799 He urges the congregation. 00:32:30.659 --> 00:32:32.099 What can I say for you? 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:34.440 To what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:36.279 Now he's speaking to the people. 00:32:37.139 --> 00:32:38.460 What can I liken to you, 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:41.059 and that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:42.940 For your ruin is vast as the sea. 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:43.920 Who can heal you? 00:32:45.779 --> 00:32:48.980 Your prophets have seen for you faults and deceptive visions. 00:32:49.139 --> 00:32:52.799 They have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:55.799 but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. 00:32:56.740 --> 00:32:58.200 Just pause here for a second. 00:32:58.740 --> 00:33:01.039 You'll notice here that one of the signs of a false prophet 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:02.659 is that they never convict of sin. 00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:07.620 One of the signs of a false prophet 00:33:07.620 --> 00:33:10.220 is they don't correctly convict of sin 00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:12.600 or never convict of sin. 00:33:14.380 --> 00:33:15.180 Verse 15. 00:33:15.259 --> 00:33:17.560 All who pass along the way clap their hands at you. 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:20.220 They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem. 00:33:20.800 --> 00:33:23.160 Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, 00:33:23.259 --> 00:33:24.300 the joy of all the earth? 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:26.620 All your enemies rail against you. 00:33:26.660 --> 00:33:27.120 They hiss. 00:33:27.220 --> 00:33:28.240 They gnash their teeth. 00:33:28.320 --> 00:33:28.820 They cry. 00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:29.820 We have swallowed her. 00:33:30.420 --> 00:33:32.340 Ah, this is the day we long for. 00:33:32.339 --> 00:33:33.339 Now we have seen it. 00:33:33.399 --> 00:33:33.939 We see it. 00:33:34.379 --> 00:33:35.939 The Lord has done what he purposed. 00:33:36.019 --> 00:33:37.319 He has carried out his word, 00:33:37.399 --> 00:33:38.699 which he commanded long ago. 00:33:38.779 --> 00:33:40.220 He has thrown down without pity. 00:33:40.279 --> 00:33:42.079 He has made the enemy rejoice over you 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:44.179 and exalted the might of your foes. 00:33:44.679 --> 00:33:46.079 Their heart cried out to the Lord, 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:48.359 O wall of the daughter of Zion, 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:50.939 let tears stream down like a torrent day and night. 00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:53.519 Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite. 00:33:54.740 --> 00:33:57.240 One of the things about this poem, 00:33:57.459 --> 00:33:58.759 which I haven't talked about, 00:33:59.139 --> 00:34:01.220 is that in the original language, 00:34:01.220 --> 00:34:03.500 there actually every, 00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:06.039 it's an alphabetical poem, by the way. 00:34:06.519 --> 00:34:07.700 It's called an acrostic. 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:09.400 And in, 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:13.559 I didn't know this until I discovered in the commentary, 00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:15.780 there was a time in early Hebrew 00:34:15.780 --> 00:34:17.820 where they had two different alphabets. 00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:18.820 They had the same letters, 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:19.780 but a different order. 00:34:20.420 --> 00:34:21.340 And it's one of the things 00:34:21.340 --> 00:34:23.360 which is really unique about the book of Lamentations, 00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:24.380 sorry, geek moment, 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:27.400 is that chapter one uses one alphabet 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:29.380 and chapter two uses the other alphabet. 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:30.519 In other words, 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:30.940 it's, I think, 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:31.960 partially trying to say 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:34.180 that whichever way you want to look at it, 00:34:34.180 --> 00:34:35.220 whatever alphabet you use, 00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:35.860 this is, in a sense, 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:36.480 a complete, 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:37.240 in a sense, 00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:39.860 deep entrance into this mystery 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:41.099 of what's just happened. 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:45.000 And in chapter one and chapter two, 00:34:45.699 --> 00:34:46.079 so, you know, 00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:47.199 chapter one begins with, 00:34:47.279 --> 00:34:47.519 in a sense, 00:34:47.579 --> 00:34:47.980 with A, 00:34:48.059 --> 00:34:48.619 it's not A, 00:34:48.759 --> 00:34:48.880 you know, 00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:49.259 B, 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:49.960 you know, 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:50.179 I mean, 00:34:50.219 --> 00:34:50.779 not chapter one, 00:34:50.920 --> 00:34:51.639 verse one, 00:34:51.779 --> 00:34:52.019 A, 00:34:52.579 --> 00:34:54.219 second verse begins with, 00:34:54.259 --> 00:34:54.539 in a sense, 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:54.920 B, 00:34:55.099 --> 00:34:56.699 all the way through the rest of the alphabet, 00:34:57.019 --> 00:34:57.920 the Hebrew alphabet. 00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:00.079 But in every case, 00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:00.400 there's, 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:00.779 in a sense, 00:35:00.839 --> 00:35:02.139 three poetic lines. 00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:05.460 And that's true of all of chapter two, 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:06.960 except for verse 19, 00:35:07.019 --> 00:35:08.500 where there's four poetic lines. 00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:10.739 And it's sort of, 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:11.199 in a sense, 00:35:11.300 --> 00:35:11.940 a bit of a, 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:12.599 of a, 00:35:12.599 --> 00:35:14.559 of a summing up of things 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:16.199 before Israel prays. 00:35:17.460 --> 00:35:18.539 In verse 19, 00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:18.900 it says, 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:19.480 Arise, 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:20.880 cry out in the night, 00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:22.099 and at the beginning of the night, 00:35:22.179 --> 00:35:22.599 watches, 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:24.440 pour out your heart like water 00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:25.679 before the presence of the Lord, 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:27.059 lift your hands to him 00:35:27.059 --> 00:35:28.699 for the lives of your children 00:35:28.699 --> 00:35:29.820 who faint for hunger 00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:32.079 at the head of every street. 00:35:33.139 --> 00:35:34.059 And now, 00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:36.280 you're going to hear the people pray. 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:38.420 And the way they pray 00:35:38.420 --> 00:35:40.000 on one hand, 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:42.099 is very disappointing. 00:35:43.320 --> 00:35:43.840 Because, 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:45.460 it's disappointing, 00:35:45.720 --> 00:35:48.559 the disappointment says something about us, 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:51.059 not something about God. 00:35:52.139 --> 00:35:52.380 In fact, 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:54.240 it actually says something very good about God. 00:35:54.639 --> 00:35:55.860 The thing it says about God 00:35:55.860 --> 00:35:58.599 is that you don't have to be happy all the time. 00:35:59.440 --> 00:35:59.720 I mean, 00:35:59.820 --> 00:36:01.139 human beings aren't meant 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:03.019 to only experience one emotion. 00:36:03.019 --> 00:36:05.380 And, 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.800 if you've had all these things, 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.199 which have had, 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:09.699 so we read the prayer thinking, 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:10.000 okay, 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:11.619 now we're going to claim the victory, 00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:13.039 now there's going to be dancing, 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:14.960 now there's going to be hallelujahs, 00:36:15.059 --> 00:36:16.599 we're going to wave our arms, 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:17.759 we're going to do all of that stuff. 00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:18.659 And we read it, 00:36:18.699 --> 00:36:18.940 and we go, 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:19.320 oh, 00:36:19.820 --> 00:36:20.199 dang, 00:36:20.340 --> 00:36:20.860 this is 00:36:20.860 --> 00:36:23.059 not like that. 00:36:23.059 --> 00:36:23.320 But, 00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:26.059 but other than our culture, 00:36:26.179 --> 00:36:27.940 why is it that it has to be like that? 00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:28.400 I mean, 00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:30.079 for you folks right now, 00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:31.219 for me in the past, 00:36:31.320 --> 00:36:32.920 and probably in the future, 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:35.860 pain doesn't go away immediately. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:39.219 That's one of the reasons 00:36:39.219 --> 00:36:40.219 why the Bible says 00:36:40.219 --> 00:36:41.099 that we need to rejoice 00:36:41.099 --> 00:36:42.000 with those who rejoice 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.340 and weep with those who weep. 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:44.340 You can't just give 00:36:44.340 --> 00:36:45.559 a comforting word 00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:46.719 and a Bible verse, 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:48.460 and then think that people 00:36:48.460 --> 00:36:49.900 are going to jump up and dance. 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:55.019 You can pray to the Lord in pain. 00:36:56.840 --> 00:36:59.160 You can pray to the Lord in sadness. 00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:02.700 It's not something you have to be embarrassed 00:37:02.700 --> 00:37:03.760 or ashamed about. 00:37:06.860 --> 00:37:09.180 It's not something you have to hide your face 00:37:09.180 --> 00:37:11.160 from God or others about. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:14.500 And pray that we at Church of the Messiah 00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:16.420 can walk with people in prayer 00:37:16.420 --> 00:37:17.940 and rejoice with those who rejoice 00:37:17.940 --> 00:37:19.360 and weep with those who weep. 00:37:19.900 --> 00:37:23.059 And allow people the time 00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:24.880 and to be present with them 00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:25.840 without judgment 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:27.240 but with love and encouragement 00:37:27.240 --> 00:37:30.660 as they pray out of sadness 00:37:30.660 --> 00:37:33.539 and pray out of pain. 00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:37.059 And that's what we see modeled here 00:37:37.059 --> 00:37:38.720 so brilliantly and powerfully. 00:37:40.780 --> 00:37:41.760 Here's how they pray. 00:37:41.860 --> 00:37:42.920 Look, O Lord, and see. 00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:44.400 By the way, 00:37:44.460 --> 00:37:45.860 the fact that they're doing this shows, 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:47.619 this is one of the mysteries of the text, 00:37:47.700 --> 00:37:49.320 is it shows that they've accepted 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:51.019 see, here's one of the things 00:37:51.019 --> 00:37:54.260 that's another very subtle little message 00:37:54.260 --> 00:37:55.600 in the first verse 00:37:55.600 --> 00:37:57.960 that sets up the rest of the whole thing. 00:37:58.600 --> 00:38:01.380 If the Lord has visited them in judgment, 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:05.140 it means he can visit them in mercy. 00:38:05.139 --> 00:38:09.659 If the Lord has visited them in judgment 00:38:09.659 --> 00:38:11.559 because he loves them, 00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:14.420 he can visit them in mercy 00:38:14.420 --> 00:38:16.299 because he loves them. 00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:19.039 And that's why they say see. 00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:21.759 They're just being transparent. 00:38:23.559 --> 00:38:25.819 They're just showing him their pain 00:38:25.820 --> 00:38:28.200 and they're showing him their confusion 00:38:28.200 --> 00:38:29.200 that comes out of pain, 00:38:29.720 --> 00:38:30.880 knowing that the Lord 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:33.320 is not going to turn his face away from them, 00:38:33.900 --> 00:38:35.640 but that he will look at them 00:38:35.640 --> 00:38:37.180 with eyes of love. 00:38:39.100 --> 00:38:40.539 Look, O Lord, and see. 00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:42.300 With whom have you dealt thus? 00:38:42.480 --> 00:38:44.640 Should women eat the fruit of their womb, 00:38:44.720 --> 00:38:46.380 the children of their tender care? 00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:48.280 Should priest and prophet be killed 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:49.740 in the sanctuary of the Lord? 00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:51.900 In the dust of the streets 00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:53.160 lie the young and the old. 00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:54.879 My young women and my young men 00:38:54.879 --> 00:38:56.179 have fallen by the sword. 00:38:56.299 --> 00:38:57.059 You have killed them 00:38:57.059 --> 00:38:58.159 in the day of your anger, 00:38:58.299 --> 00:38:59.940 slaughtering without mercy. 00:39:00.859 --> 00:39:02.759 You summoned as if to a festival day 00:39:02.759 --> 00:39:04.239 my terrors in every side. 00:39:04.359 --> 00:39:06.379 And on the day of the anger of the Lord, 00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:07.980 no one escaped or survived. 00:39:08.819 --> 00:39:10.339 Those whom I held and raised, 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:11.339 my enemy destroyed. 00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:13.339 You only understand that 00:39:13.339 --> 00:39:14.379 if you understand that he's saying, 00:39:14.519 --> 00:39:15.239 remember he's, 00:39:15.579 --> 00:39:18.139 chapter, verse 22 is connected to verse one. 00:39:18.299 --> 00:39:19.039 It's accepting 00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:21.139 that this is the day of judgment. 00:39:21.139 --> 00:39:24.099 And the Lord who is visited 00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:25.639 in judgment out of love 00:39:25.639 --> 00:39:28.559 can still visit in mercy out of love. 00:39:28.679 --> 00:39:29.699 And they're just saying, see. 00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:32.099 It's not a correct theology. 00:39:32.879 --> 00:39:34.400 It's a cry of the heart. 00:39:37.239 --> 00:39:40.460 Just sort of include, 00:39:40.819 --> 00:39:45.159 in just sort of conclusion, 00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:47.420 one of the things which is very, very powerful, 00:39:47.619 --> 00:39:49.400 and one of the things for Christians 00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:50.280 as they read this 00:39:50.280 --> 00:39:51.480 is it really communicates 00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:54.860 the terror and the reality of judgment. 00:39:57.059 --> 00:39:59.360 And for me as a Christian, 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:00.240 as I read this, 00:40:01.340 --> 00:40:03.880 it helps me to understand 00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:06.440 my great deep need for a savior. 00:40:08.119 --> 00:40:10.240 And it also helps us to understand 00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:11.440 a little bit about why it is 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:12.940 that Jesus had to die on a cross. 00:40:13.260 --> 00:40:14.500 You see, once again, 00:40:14.559 --> 00:40:16.059 this reveals something about our hearts. 00:40:16.139 --> 00:40:17.880 We say that we want God to judge. 00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:19.660 We say that we want God to do this and that, 00:40:19.740 --> 00:40:20.559 but we then sort of think 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:21.820 that it's just going to be spiritual, 00:40:22.140 --> 00:40:24.280 that it's just going to be something symbolic, 00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:26.059 that it's going to be something mythical, 00:40:26.300 --> 00:40:28.220 that it's going to be something analogical. 00:40:28.660 --> 00:40:29.440 We don't actually, 00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:30.160 on one land, 00:40:30.240 --> 00:40:31.160 we don't really expect 00:40:31.160 --> 00:40:32.119 that it's going to be 00:40:32.119 --> 00:40:34.160 concrete, physical, 00:40:34.619 --> 00:40:36.700 historical, actual, real. 00:40:37.780 --> 00:40:38.820 But we see here 00:40:38.820 --> 00:40:40.140 that it is and will be 00:40:40.140 --> 00:40:41.820 because the triune God 00:40:41.820 --> 00:40:43.599 is actual and real 00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:45.659 and is the one 00:40:45.659 --> 00:40:46.779 that launched history 00:40:46.779 --> 00:40:47.960 and is still sovereign 00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:48.679 over history 00:40:48.679 --> 00:40:49.539 and will bring history 00:40:49.539 --> 00:40:50.619 to its proper end. 00:40:51.500 --> 00:40:51.839 And so, 00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:54.239 this text helps to confront us 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:54.779 of the fact 00:40:54.779 --> 00:40:56.519 that we are confused 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:57.639 about how we think 00:40:57.639 --> 00:40:58.380 and how we feel 00:40:58.380 --> 00:40:59.639 and understand ourselves 00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:01.279 because on one hand, 00:41:01.339 --> 00:41:02.400 we want the actual, 00:41:02.519 --> 00:41:03.119 but on the other hand, 00:41:03.179 --> 00:41:04.480 we expect the symbolic 00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:05.699 and the allegorical. 00:41:05.860 --> 00:41:06.539 And here we see 00:41:06.539 --> 00:41:07.599 that this actually is happened 00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:09.619 and will happen. 00:41:10.619 --> 00:41:12.199 And it's in the same sense then 00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:13.059 that we need to understand 00:41:13.059 --> 00:41:13.839 that's why Jesus, 00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:14.799 it isn't just sort of 00:41:14.799 --> 00:41:16.199 that there can be an allegory 00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:17.400 about God doing something 00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:18.000 in the heavens 00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:20.179 or a spiritualizing of it. 00:41:20.819 --> 00:41:23.059 What we need is actually, 00:41:23.279 --> 00:41:24.279 and what God has done 00:41:24.279 --> 00:41:25.339 is he wants us to understand 00:41:25.339 --> 00:41:26.179 that it's real, 00:41:26.839 --> 00:41:27.659 that it's real. 00:41:27.839 --> 00:41:28.619 And that's why 00:41:28.619 --> 00:41:30.759 Jesus is the Lamb of God 00:41:30.759 --> 00:41:31.539 who takes away 00:41:31.539 --> 00:41:32.440 the sin of the world 00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:34.440 and he dies in history, 00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:36.460 he dies in time, 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:38.440 and there are good historical reasons 00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:39.820 to believe 00:41:39.820 --> 00:41:41.119 that it actually happened 00:41:41.119 --> 00:41:41.920 as it says 00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:43.619 and that he really did die 00:41:43.619 --> 00:41:44.599 and he really did rise 00:41:44.599 --> 00:41:45.159 from the dead. 00:41:45.260 --> 00:41:46.619 And if he really did die 00:41:46.619 --> 00:41:48.679 in your place and in mine 00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:50.240 and he really did rise 00:41:50.240 --> 00:41:52.420 in your place and in mine, 00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:53.900 then if we are in him, 00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:56.400 there is this whole different way 00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:58.200 to understand life and universe 00:41:58.200 --> 00:42:00.460 and a whole level of hope 00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:02.679 that is based on reality, 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:03.780 not on allegory 00:42:03.780 --> 00:42:05.380 and spirituality and anecdote. 00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:07.220 But it's real. 00:42:07.219 --> 00:42:08.639 It's real. 00:42:10.819 --> 00:42:11.819 So for those of you 00:42:11.819 --> 00:42:13.079 outside of Christ, 00:42:13.179 --> 00:42:15.339 this is a very great warning 00:42:15.339 --> 00:42:17.000 of your need for Christ. 00:42:17.419 --> 00:42:18.259 For those of us 00:42:18.259 --> 00:42:18.959 who are in Christ, 00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:20.399 it is a reminder 00:42:20.399 --> 00:42:22.459 of our great need for Christ 00:42:22.459 --> 00:42:24.699 that the ruin that I deserve 00:42:24.699 --> 00:42:25.519 fell on him 00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:27.919 and the restoration 00:42:27.919 --> 00:42:29.679 that I do not deserve 00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:31.399 because I am not privileged 00:42:31.399 --> 00:42:34.599 is offered in him 00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:36.699 because he took the ruin 00:42:36.699 --> 00:42:38.339 that I deserve. 00:42:39.500 --> 00:42:40.719 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:42:43.299 --> 00:42:44.960 Father, we thank you so much 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:47.000 that you confront us 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:48.139 at the level of our heart, 00:42:48.279 --> 00:42:49.779 the reality of our heart, 00:42:49.880 --> 00:42:51.199 the reality of who we are, 00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:52.880 that you do it through your word, 00:42:53.139 --> 00:42:53.920 but that, Father, 00:42:54.039 --> 00:42:55.759 in every case of your word, 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:57.539 you do not do it to shame us, 00:42:57.619 --> 00:42:58.559 to cast us away, 00:42:58.639 --> 00:42:59.440 to push us away, 00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:01.480 that you confront to connect, 00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:03.039 that you confront 00:43:03.039 --> 00:43:04.500 so that we will understand 00:43:04.500 --> 00:43:06.019 our great need for a Savior. 00:43:06.219 --> 00:43:07.300 Father, as a Christian, 00:43:07.740 --> 00:43:09.260 I confess to you 00:43:09.260 --> 00:43:11.280 that I regularly need 00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:12.940 to be reminded of the gospel, 00:43:13.099 --> 00:43:15.519 that the ruin that I deserve 00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:16.619 fell on him 00:43:16.619 --> 00:43:18.960 so that I could be restored to you. 00:43:19.159 --> 00:43:21.559 The great, terrible warning 00:43:21.559 --> 00:43:23.559 of how it is an awesome thing 00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:24.480 to fall into the hands 00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:25.340 of the living God 00:43:25.340 --> 00:43:27.920 and that I am desperately in need 00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:29.980 of your undeserved mercy 00:43:29.980 --> 00:43:31.500 that only flows out of your heart. 00:43:31.579 --> 00:43:32.860 We give you thanks and praise 00:43:32.860 --> 00:43:34.400 that you are not a God 00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:35.500 beyond good and evil, 00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:36.740 but that you are a God 00:43:36.740 --> 00:43:38.639 that is just and true, 00:43:38.760 --> 00:43:39.920 that loving and merciful, 00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:42.240 beautiful and good, 00:43:42.719 --> 00:43:44.139 that this is who you are 00:43:44.139 --> 00:43:45.199 and to press into you 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:45.860 is to only know 00:43:45.860 --> 00:43:46.860 all of these things 00:43:46.860 --> 00:43:48.019 and more beyond 00:43:48.019 --> 00:43:49.740 illuminating each other 00:43:49.740 --> 00:43:50.940 and at peace with each other. 00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:51.320 And, Father, 00:43:51.380 --> 00:43:52.679 we long to be made 00:43:52.679 --> 00:43:53.760 to be at peace with you 00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:54.500 and we thank you 00:43:54.500 --> 00:43:55.699 that Jesus has done 00:43:55.699 --> 00:43:56.920 what it means for us 00:43:56.920 --> 00:43:57.980 to be at peace with you 00:43:57.980 --> 00:43:59.280 in an eternal sense 00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:00.880 and that you now, 00:44:01.300 --> 00:44:02.199 by the Holy Spirit, 00:44:02.320 --> 00:44:03.460 drawing us to the gospel 00:44:03.460 --> 00:44:04.320 and to your word, 00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:05.219 begin to help us 00:44:05.219 --> 00:44:06.179 to grow in holiness, 00:44:06.420 --> 00:44:07.179 to prepare us 00:44:07.179 --> 00:44:08.440 for that great day 00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:09.880 when we will see Jesus 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:10.840 and be like him 00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:12.240 and that we will enter 00:44:12.240 --> 00:44:15.500 into that beautiful world 00:44:15.500 --> 00:44:16.599 illuminated by your 00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:17.760 Trinitarian glory 00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:19.559 to live at home 00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:20.139 and at peace. 00:44:20.780 --> 00:44:21.740 We ask, Father, 00:44:21.820 --> 00:44:22.519 that you help us 00:44:22.519 --> 00:44:23.760 to have a heart for our city 00:44:23.760 --> 00:44:24.880 and a heart for the world, 00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:28.119 that even if we have to say 00:44:28.119 --> 00:44:28.820 that what is done 00:44:28.820 --> 00:44:29.320 in the world 00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:30.079 and done in the city 00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:30.660 is wrong, 00:44:30.900 --> 00:44:31.640 at the same time 00:44:31.640 --> 00:44:32.599 our hearts are broken 00:44:32.599 --> 00:44:34.260 and that we will call out 00:44:34.260 --> 00:44:34.880 in prayer 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:36.980 that you will turn 00:44:36.980 --> 00:44:37.579 their hearts. 00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:39.480 We thank and praise you 00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:40.180 that you are God 00:44:40.180 --> 00:44:40.860 who is real, 00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:41.519 who has acted 00:44:41.519 --> 00:44:42.360 in real history 00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:43.619 and we ask that you 00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:44.720 help us to entrust 00:44:44.720 --> 00:44:46.400 each moment 00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:47.680 of our real lives 00:44:47.680 --> 00:44:48.660 into your hands 00:44:48.660 --> 00:44:49.960 and all these things 00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:50.760 we ask in the name 00:44:50.760 --> 00:44:51.220 of Jesus 00:44:51.220 --> 00:44:52.760 and all God's people said, 00:44:53.640 --> 00:44:53.860 Amen.